BCE Inc. (BCE) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 16th

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Zacks Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of 0.737 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73.

BCE has raised its dividend by an average of 4.9% per year over the last three years. BCE has a payout ratio of 131.4% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect BCE to earn $2.23 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $2.89 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 129.6%.

BCE Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $28.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. BCE has a fifty-two week low of $27.29 and a fifty-two week high of $41.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. National Bank Financial lowered BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Edward Jones downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.33.

BCE Company Profile

BCE Inc, a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers.